Open source is a boon for academic project collaboration. As long as the collaboration is not only voluntary, but also on equal footing, everyone can contribute and benefit under the guidance of an open source license and processes. However, as soon as money flows between the partners, the lawyers will want to have their say, and things get complicated. Fortunately, open source can fix this as well.
Continue reading “Using Open Source to Align Academic Client-Supplier Relationships”What Does Customer Success Mean for a Professor?
A professor raises funds, manages projects, and publishes about it. Next to teaching, university committees, self-administration, recruiting and hiring, people management, peer reviews, community leadership, etc. Fundraising is called sales, if done by a company. Now, companies have something called customer success. What does this imply for a professor?
Continue reading “What Does Customer Success Mean for a Professor?”Top Three Career Advice for Students
These are the three top pieces of career advice I give to my students:
- Feel comfortable with people and culture
- Be close to revenues, not expenses
- Join a growing organization
Why We Shouldn’t Grade Dissertations
tl;dr — A quality mark of a dissertation is that its reviewers don’t all come from the same university. However, different universities have different grading systems, making average grades meaningless at best and hurtful to the careers of young researchers at worst. So we should move to a pass/fail system of grading.
Continue reading “Why We Shouldn’t Grade Dissertations”There’s More to Research Than Testing Hypotheses
In a recent grant proposal, we proposed to develop a new method and to evaluate it using case study research. By definition, case studies are a good way of evaluating theories where you can’t control all parameters, as is the case with new methods in an open and complex world setting like software engineering.
Interestingly, both reviewers to the proposal asked for hypotheses to test. Why weren’t there any? We had posed open-ended research questions, but no hypotheses that lead to a simple yes/no answer (well, rejection of a null hypothesis or not, usually).
Continue reading “There’s More to Research Than Testing Hypotheses”Good Use of Ancient SD Cards
I finally was able to find a good for of those old (ancient!) SD cards I have flying around. The ministry of education in Bavaria requires that I send exam questions to them before use, by mail (the one without an e-). I can burn the questions to a CD, or put them onto a USB stick, but I presume I can also use my old SD cards. Yay for reuse!
New Evaluation Criteria for Comparison of Object Creation Patterns in ADAP C09
The lecture on object creation, ADAP C09 (edition of winter 2021/22), contained a simple evaluation scheme for comparing different object creation patterns. The scheme was perhaps too simple, and I improved it. The basic three dimensions of comparing the patters are now:
- Ease of reading
- Easy of changing (in place)
- Easy of extending (without changing)
How to get a Ph.D. in Germany
In this 10min. video, I explain ways of getting a doctoral title (Ph.D.) in Germany. I specifically explain the individual doctorate and its differences to the structured programs of Anglo-Saxon universities. This talk is scheduled for Jan 24th, with 165 registrations for the live event one week before already.
How Not to Generate a Hypothesis
xkcd is an enjoyable web cartoon, often with a scientific bent. This time they got it wrong, though.
Open Sourcing Research Software
In this 15min. video I’ll take you through the basic steps of open sourcing your research software. It covers purpose of open sourcing, the rights situation, license choice, and the actual step of open sourcing.
The slides are also available. Please note that the slides and video contain some simplifications so make sure you resp. your lawyers know what they are doing.